‘It’s tiring’ – Gordon makes admission about Celtic problems

Celtic keeper Craig Gordon thinks the reason Celtic are so dominant domestically is because they have so many “top internationals” in their squad.

But he admitted that the travelling that comes with international football is “tiring” and a problem for the team.

Brendan Rodgers’ side had more than 15 players away with their respective nations during the international break and Gordon believes the fact that so many have been involved on the international scene is a big part in their six-in-a-row success.

Gordon was one of five Celtic players involved in Gordon Strachan’s Scotland squad as they failed to qualify for next summer’s World Cup after an agonising draw with Slovenia.

James Forrest, Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney and Leigh Griffiths were also involved for the Scots while Christian Gamboa, Mikael Lustig, Tom Rogic, Nir Bitton, Dedryck Boyata, Jozo Simunovic and Eboue Kouassi were all chosen for their country’s senior squads – although Simunovic and Kouassi had to withdraw through injury.

Gordon is confident manager Brendan Rodgers will be able to balance the demands on his players travelling across the planet with Celtic’s fixture list ahead of Saturday’s clash with Dundee.

“Of course, it is tiring for the boys who are playing at international level, with European club football and also domestic football,” Gordon said, as quoted by the Daily Record website.

“There are some who are doing more miles than others. Some are doing more travelling.

“But it’s up to the manager to rotate the squad and give people rests when he can and when he feels that it is the right time, while still being able to maintain the winning record.

“It’s a juggling act for him, but we have good players.

“That’s why we have international players, that’s the reason why we do so well domestically because we have so many top internationals, so it works both ways.”

The Hoops are on a 58-game unbeaten domestic run and face a massive three weeks with a trip to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League following this weekend’s game before Rodgers side have a League Cup semi-final and finally a trip to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.